Large-scale interstate migration raises questions about where the responsibility for migrant welfare lies, whether with the sending state and its institutions, the receiving state or both. Across the middle decades of the twentieth century, around half a million people left Ireland, the majority for England. This study analyses the policy responses of governmental, Catholic church and voluntary organisations in both countries to Irish migrant welfare. Using records from Irish and English diocesan archives and the National Archives of Ireland and England the study identifies the policy claims that were made to church and state in the two countries and the responses that resulted. The majority of migrants were young, single and migrating alone. A distinctive feature was that, for much of the period covered, female migrants outnumbered males. The young age and gender of these migrants made moral welfare a major concern. The Irish Catholic hierarchy, led by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Charles McQuaid, accepted responsibility for Irish migrant welfare and understood their needs through a discourse of ‘faith and morals’. This interpretation led to solutions designed to support religious faith and practice delivered by Catholic priests and lay volunteers. Both the Irish government and British institutions (state and voluntary) accepted the centrality of Catholicism to Irish identity and the right of the Catholic church to lead welfare policy and provision for Irish migrants. No alternative understanding of Irish migrant needs within a secular framework emerged during this period. This meant that whilst the Irish hierarchy developed policy responses based on their assessment of need, other agencies, notably the British and Irish governments, did not consider any specific policy response for Irish migrants to be required.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:582252 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Ewart, Henrietta |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/56276/ |
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